Thank you to all students who shared their experiences of their modules – both negative and positive – regarding how inclusive their curriculum is.
Education should be a partnership between staff and students. This empowers students, as well as enhancing pedagogy. With this in mind, one way the SU is aiming to help liberate curricula is by asking students whether the module syllabus sufficiently reflects issues of diversity, equality and liberation.
We found that Warwick offered many positive experiences regarding liberation and inclusion. For example, students said that weekly themes covered many areas well, such as challenging ethnocentrism and Eurocentrism. Modules were found to have been created with different intersectionality issues in mind, as well as being conscious of ‘mainstream’ narratives within academia and seeking to counter these.
However, there is a long way to go, and much more still needs to be done. For example, modules have been found to be Eurocentric and use binary terminology, as well as being prone to the erasure of colonial atrocities and histories of particular groups (for example, LGBTUA+, the disabled, people of colour and women).
The suggestions for improvements were vast. Students would like the inclusion of diverse reading list of authors and subjects of study, while an acknowledgement that science is not free from bias in respect of liberation issues has also been noted. Lecture capture has also been suggested as a way to alleviate access issues, as well as diversifying the choice of different assessment.
The SU is working hard on these issues in a bid to make the curriculum as inclusive and accessible as possible. We are setting up an Open Lecture Series focusing on stories of oppression and resistance that are often erased from discourse, together with an accompanying discussion around how to implement a liberated curriculum within our modules. Keep an eye out for more information on this!
We are also campaigning on the greater use of lecture capture and tackling inaccessible course costs, as well as the general lobbying of departments to make improvements in the sphere of liberation.
Once again, we’d like to thank everyone who has taken part thus far. We have now reopened the survey for any students who want to send in their feedback!